British male drivers are more considerate

Jun 02 2008

British male drivers are more considerate

~ British male drivers are more likely to share information with others than women, according to TomTom map statistics ~

2 June 2008: When it comes to sharing information and helping other drivers, British men have triumphed as the most generous amongst owners of TomTom car navigation systems in Europe. A study of TomTom’s Map Share™ service – which allows users to update and improve the maps on their sat nav ‘on the fly’ and then share them with others – today revealed that men are more likely to share the improvements they make on their TomTom device (67% of men compared to just 45% of women*).

The study also showed that people over 55 years old are the least likely to share their map improvements, compared to younger drivers (53% versus 70%).

TomTom, which is the world’s leading portable navigation solutions provider, recently announced that two million map improvements have been received from its customers since the launch of the Map Share service in July 2007, and almost two million drivers have joined the Map Share community since it became available. 16,000 new users join the service every day, and more than 10,000 map improvements are submitted each day all over the world using the service, with the majority coming from Europe and North America. The largest number of corrections in Europe have been made by drivers from the UK – and 78% of all registered UK users have opted to share their corrections.

The most commonly reported corrections submitted by the Map Share community include changes to street names, reversing of traffic direction (for example, on one way streets) and adding/editing of ‘Points of Interest’ (these include anything from petrol stations to theme parks to restaurants).

Harold Goddijn, CEO of TomTom, commented, “We have no idea why more men would opt to share the information they provide via their TomTom sat nav devices than women – we can only guess that it is a result of them wanting to help other male drivers, who are notoriously reluctant to stop and ask for directions, or indeed to admit that they might be lost!”

*Countries researched: UK, Germany, Spain and The Netherlands

The analysis of the Map Share data also unveiled a number of unusual corrections submitted around the world:

• In Scotland, a user added more than 100 whisky bars as ‘Points of Interest’ – which all proved to be correct in both name and location.
• Meanwhile, in Spain, one user submitted the names and locations of 75 cemeteries – these also turned out to be exactly right…
• Just south of the town of Kimberley, near Nottingham, a country lane has been named ‘Scary Road’ by one spooked driver who perhaps thought they should warn other drivers about its frightening nature!
• In The Netherlands, a TomTom user attempted to rename the Amstel River as the ‘Heineken River’.
• In Germany, two Greek restaurants located just a few doors down from each other were repeatedly deleted and then reinstated as Points of Interest using the Map Share service. Possibly some friendly rivalry between local competition?
• A thoughtful British driver added a Greasy Spoon café as a Point of Interest, declaring that its key feature was a ‘useable toilet’.
• In the US, on 1 August 2007, the Minnesota bridge collapsed. TomTom users immediately submitted a multitude of corrections to block the bridge, helping to avoid an extremely unsafe road situation.
• TomTom users in Saint-Quentin, Nova Scotia in Canada grouped together to submit maps showing all the road names in the town. This is the first time these roads have ever been included on a digital map.
• In the Czech Republic, a customer placed the Ministry of Justice into a deserted location in the mountains. Perhaps he or she was trying to escape a parking fine?

About Map Share™
TomTom Map Share ensures that drivers always have the most accurate and up-to-date maps available in the industry. Available in 30 countries over five continents, TomTom introduced the Map Share service because road networks change every day and often unexpectedly. Drivers can improve their own maps, easily and instantly, directly on their device. And more importantly, TomTom users can receive all the improvements made by others, and thereby benefit from all their local road knowledge every day, free of charge. The more often users connect their device to TomTom HOME, the more up-to-date their maps will be. TomTom is the only navigation solutions provider offering customers this unique service.

TomTom has the world’s largest satellite navigation community with more than 20 million members.

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